Image forming apparatus

ABSTRACT

The present invention can print out operating instructions, HELP documents, the latest image forming apparatus information, support and maintenance information, advertisements about new models and services, and the like without incrementing a charging counter. 
     Without caring about the charging, users can print out operating instructions, HELP documents, the latest image forming apparatus information, support and maintenance information, advertisements about new models and services, and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as adigital copier.

2. Description of the Related Art

There has been used the function of allowing a user to print descriptivetext about a function he or she wants to know or a HELP document from acontrol panel. It has been possible to obtain various types ofinformation such as the latest information, support and maintenanceinformation, advertisements about new models and services, and the likevia a network and print them out if needed.

The user may want to print information other than documents (hereafterreferred to as user-intended documents) he or she wants to copy or printfor his or her own purpose. For example, the user may want to print aninstruction manual, HELP documents, the latest image forming apparatusinformation, support and maintenance information, advertisements aboutnew models and services, and the like.

A counter counts printouts of even such information other thanuser-intended documents for charging, thus imposing a burden on users.Such a burden becomes an obstacle to a user's intention to printsupplied valuable information.

There is also an obstacle to communication between the image formingapparatus' manufacturer or distributor and users.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a more user friendlyimage forming apparatus capable of disabling charging for requests otherthan user-intended documents, eliminating the costs so far imposed onusers, allowing the users to print out operating instructions, HELPdocuments, the latest image forming apparatus information, support andmaintenance information, advertisements about new models and services,and the like without caring about the charging, and providing the userswith more knowledge about the image forming apparatus.

The image forming apparatus according to the present inventionrecognizes such documents other than normal documents, i.e.,user-intended documents as operating instructions, HELP documents, thelatest information about the image forming apparatus, support andmaintenance information, advertisements about new models and services,and the like, and prevents a charging counter from counting printouts ofsuch documents other than the user-intended documents.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthe description which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectsand advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means ofthe instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed outhereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate presently preferred embodiments ofthe invention, and together with the general description given above andthe detailed description of the preferred embodiments given below, serveto explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a digitalcopier for explaining an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing control of an accounting counter;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of a control panel;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart describing a process of printing functiondescription for a liquid crystal display section;

FIGS. 5 through 8 show display examples of the liquid crystal displaysection;

FIG. 9 illustrates a printout result;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart describing a process of printing latest imageforming apparatus information;

FIGS. 11 and 12 show display examples of the liquid crystal displaysection; and

FIG. 13 illustrates a printout result.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to the accompanying drawings, the following describes animage forming apparatus such as a digital color copier according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 schematically shows an internal configuration block of the imageforming apparatus according to the present invention such as a digitalcolor copier that reads a color image from a document and forms itsduplicate image. The image forming apparatus broadly comprises a colorscanner section 1 as an image read means for reading and inputting acolor image on a document; a color printer section 2 as an image formingmeans for forming a duplicate image of the input color image; a controlsection 3 to control the entire image forming apparatus; and a controlpanel 4.

The scanner section 1 comprises a scanner CPU 11 to control the entireoperation; a ROM 12 to store a control program and the like; a RAM 13 tostore data; a scanner mechanism section 14; an automatic document feeder15; and a read image processor 16.

The scanner mechanism section 14 comprises an optical system to read andscan documents; a carriage mechanism to move the optical system along adocument table; a color image sensor to convert a document imagesupplied by the optical system into image signals corresponding torespective colors; an image correction section to correct image signalsoutput from the color image sensor, and the like.

The color printer section 2 comprises a main CPU 21 to control theentire operation; a ROM 22 to store a control program, a count-upprogram, and the like; a RAM 23 to store data; an NVRAM (nonvolatilerandom access memory) 24 to contain various counters; a printermechanism section 25; a printout image processor 26; a laser apparatus27; a paper feed apparatus 28; and various sensors 29. The main CPU 21connects with an external counter 30 for accounting.

The printer mechanism section 25 comprises printers that performprinting based on image data for corresponding colors (Y, M, C, BK)separated by the printout image processor 26. Each printer comprises aphotoconductor drum as an image carrier; a charging apparatus to chargethe surface of the photoconductor drum; an exposing apparatus having asemiconductor laser oscillator (laser apparatus 27) controlled for lightgeneration based on imaged data corresponding to the respectiveseparated colors (Y, M, C, BK) and forming an electrostatic latent imageon the photoconductor drum; a developing apparatus to develop theelectrostatic latent image using a toner image on the photoconductordrum; a transport mechanism to carry paper as an image forming medium; atransfer apparatus to transfer a toner image on the photoconductor drumto the paper carried by the transport mechanism; and a fixing apparatusto fix the toner image transferred to the paper by the transferapparatus.

The control section 3 comprises a system CPU 31 responsible for theoverall control; a ROM (read-only memory) 32 to store a control program,a document verification program, and the like; a RAM 33 to store data;an NVRAM (nonvolatile random access memory or nonvolatile RAM) 34 asbattery-backed nonvolatile memory; a control panel apparatus 35 tocontrol the control panel 4; a network connection apparatus 36; an HDD37; and a page memory controller 39 to store and read a page memory 38.

The control panel 4 is used for various settings. As shown in FIG. 2,for example, the control panel 4 comprises a screen display (liquidcrystal display) 41 including a touch panel for displaying and enteringthe contents of settings and operations; and an input apparatus 42comprising a simple keyboard including a numeric keypad and, alphabetickeys, and the like. Further, the control panel 4 is provided with a helpkey 43 used for guidance about unknown functions; and a network key 44used for sending printout contents to an external device via a network.

A touch key operation on the liquid crystal display section 41 enables abasic (BASIC) mode, application (EDID) mode, special (PROGRAM) mode,confirmation (SETTINGS) mode, or simple (QUICK) mode. In addition, theliquid crystal display section 41 can be used for other settings, suchas specifying the number of copies.

The EDID mode further enables ANNOTATION for supplying date and time,PAGE NUMBER for page numbering, MAGAZINE SORT, COVER SHEET mode, SHEETINSERTION mode, and TAB PAPER mode.

In the above-mentioned configuration, a count process performed by theaccounting counter 30 will now be described with reference to theflowchart in FIG. 3.

When receiving a print start instruction (ST1), the system CPU 31 usesthe “document verification program” to determine whether or not auser-intended document is specified (ST2).

If the determination result shows that the user-intended document isspecified, the system CPU 31 configures print settings such as a papersize, resolution, and the like (ST6), and then sends a print instructionto the main CPU 21 (ST5).

If the determination result at step 2 shows that no user-intendeddocument is specified, the system CPU 31 configures print settings(ST3), activates a count-up disable instruction (ST4), and then sends aprint instruction to the main CPU 21 (ST5).

The main CPU 21 receives the print instruction (ST11) and startsprinting (ST12). When the printing starts, the main CPU 21 uses varioussensor signals (ST13) to measure a count-up timing. Then, the main CPU21 determines whether or not the print instruction contains the count-updisable instruction (ST14).

If the determination result shows no count-up disable instruction, themain CPU 21 starts the count-up program, increments an external counter17 (ST15), and then executes the print process (ST16).

If the determination result at step 14 shows that the count-up disableinstruction is available, the main CPU 21 executes the print processwithout starting the count-up program, i.e., without incrementing theexternal counter 17 (ST16).

The following describes a process to print out descriptive textexplaining unknown functions using the liquid crystal display section 42of the control panel 4 with reference to a flowchart in FIG. 4, displayexamples in FIGS. 5 through 8, and a printout example in FIG. 9.

Now, let us suppose that a user is unfamiliar with the function of theMAGAZINE SORT button during a touch panel operation on the liquidcrystal display section 42. The user presses that button for the unknownfunction to select it (ST21), and then presses the HELP key 43 (ST22).That is to say, the user presses the HELP key 43 with the PAGE NUMBERfunction selected in the EDID mode as shown in FIG. 5. Alternatively,the user presses the HELP key 43 with the MAGAZINE SORT functionselected in the EDID mode as shown in FIG. 6.

In response to this, the system CPU 31 uses the liquid crystal displaysection 42 to display a guidance screen as shown in FIG. 7 (ST23). Theguidance screen prompts the user to determine whether to display orprint the descriptive text of the selected function. The guidance screencomprises the text such as “Description about . . . Select your option”,and keys such as “Print”, “Display”, and “End”.

When the user presses “Print” (ST24) in accordance with the guidancescreen, the system CPU 31 determines the printout of the descriptivetext about the corresponding function and the paper size used for theprintout (ST25), reads (obtains a description document) from the HDD 37based on the paper size, and outputs the document to the color printersection 2 (ST26). In this manner, the color printer section 2 prints outthe descriptive text as shown in FIG. 9 (ST27). During this printout,the accounting counter 30 is configured not to be incremented.

When the user presses “Display” on the guidance screen (ST28), thesystem CPU 31 determines the display of the descriptive text about thecorresponding function (ST29), reads (obtains a description document)from the HDD 37, and outputs the document to the liquid crystal displaysection 42 (ST30). In this manner, the liquid crystal display section 42displays the descriptive text as shown in FIG. 8.

In this case, the liquid crystal display section 42 displays the keys“Print” and “End” as well as the descriptive text.

When the user presses the “Print” key (ST31) in response to thedisplayed descriptive text, the system CPU 31 determines the printout ofthe descriptive text about the corresponding function (ST25), reads andobtains a description document from the HDD 37 based on the paper size,and outputs the document to the color printer section 2 (ST26). In thismanner, the color printer section 2 prints out the descriptive text asshown in FIG. 9 (ST27). During this printout, the accounting counter 30is configured not to be incremented.

When the user presses the “End” key (ST32, 33) in response to thedisplayed contents or descriptive text on the guidance screen, thesystem CPU 31 disables the help state for the corresponding function andreturns to the display state for the initial function selection at step21.

When the print, display, and end keys are selected, it may be preferableto long or repeatedly press the corresponding key. While the descriptiondocument is retrieved from the HDD 37 in the above-mentioned example, itmay be also preferable to retrieve the document from an external devicevia the network.

The image forming apparatus can obtain various types of information suchas the latest information, support and maintenance information,advertisements about new models and services, and the like via thenetwork. Such information can be confirmed by pressing the network key44 on the control panel 4.

This process will be described with reference to a flowchart in FIG. 10,display examples in FIGS. 11 and 12, and a printout example in FIG. 13.

For example, the user now presses the network key 44 on the liquidcrystal display section 42 (ST41). In response to this, the system CPU31 checks if latest image forming apparatus information is received(e.g., stored in the HDD 37) from an external device via the networkconnection apparatus 36 (ST42). If such information is received, thesystem CPU 31 allows the liquid crystal display section 42 to displaythe guidance screen as shown in FIG. 11 (ST43). The guidance screencomprises text such as “Latest image forming apparatus informationreceived. Select your option”, and keys such as “Print”, “Display”, and“End”.

When the user presses the “Print” key (ST44) in response to the guidancescreen, the system CPU 31 determines the printout of the latest imageforming apparatus information and the paper size used for the printout(ST45), reads the information from the HDD 37 based on the paper size,and outputs the information to the color printer section 2 (ST46). Inthis manner, the color printer section 2 prints out the latest imageforming apparatus information as shown in FIG. 13 (ST47). During thisprintout, the accounting counter 30 is configured not to be incremented.

When the user presses “Display” on the guidance screen (ST48), thesystem CPU 31 determines the display of the latest image formingapparatus information (ST49), reads (obtains the latest image formingapparatus information) from the HDD 37, and outputs the information tothe liquid crystal display section 42 (ST50). In this manner, the liquidcrystal display section 42 displays the latest image forming apparatusinformation, as shown in FIG. 11.

In this case, the liquid crystal display section 42 displays the keys“Print” and “End” as well as the descriptive text.

When the user presses the “Print” key (ST51) in response to thedisplayed descriptive text, the system CPU 31 determines the printout ofthe corresponding latest image forming apparatus information (ST45),obtains the latest image forming apparatus information read from the HDD37 based on the paper size, and outputs the information to the colorprinter section 2 (ST46). In this manner, the color printer section 2prints out the latest image forming apparatus information as shown inFIG. 12 (ST47). During this printout, the accounting counter 30 isconfigured not to be incremented.

When the user presses the “End” key (ST52, 53) in response to thedisplayed contents or the latest image forming apparatus informationdisplayed on the guidance screen, the system CPU 31 returns to theinitial display state.

As mentioned above, the information provided by a manufacturer or adistributor is more easily made available, ensuring a bettercommunication with customers. Further, it is possible to acquire moreknowledge about the image forming apparatus, making the image formingapparatus user friendly.

It is possible to disable the charging for requests other thanuser-intended documents, eliminating the costs so far imposed on users.Without caring about the charging, the users can print out operatinginstructions, HELP documents, the latest image forming apparatusinformation, support and maintenance information, advertisements aboutnew models and services, and the like. Further, it is possible to allowthe users to have more knowledge about the image forming apparatus,making the image forming apparatus user friendly.

Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects isnot limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shownand described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be madewithout departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventiveconcept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

1. An image forming apparatus to form an image on an image formingmedium by concurrently incrementing a charging counter, comprising: areceiving section to receive information supplied from an externaldevice via a network; an instruction section to instruct output of theinformation supplied from the external device via the network; andprocess means for responding to an instruction from the instructionsection and forming an image on the image forming medium according tothe information received from the receiving section without incrementingthe charging counter.
 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim1, wherein the information supplied from the external device via thenetwork includes the latest information, support and maintenanceinformation, advertisements about new models and services, and the like.3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imageforming performs color printing.
 4. The image forming apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the forming of the image on the imageforming medium performs printing on a sheet.
 5. The image formingapparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display, whereinthe printing on the sheet is performed by the process means or an imageis displayed by the display.
 6. The image forming apparatus according toclaim 5, wherein the display is a liquid-crystal display.
 7. The imageforming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein instruction by theinstruction section is performed by operating keys.
 8. The image formingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the receiving section comprisesa determining section which determines whether the receiving section hasreceived latest image forming apparatus information.
 9. The imageforming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the receiving sectioncomprises a determining section which determines whether the receivingsection receives latest image forming apparatus information and aguidance display which displays a guidance text when the determiningsection judges that the latest image forming apparatus information hasbeen received.
 10. The image forming apparatus to claim 9, wherein theguidance display displays a guidance text, and also displays a key whichinstructs printing and a key which instructs displaying.